Soul Stirring

Music, art, and serendip­i­tous expe­ri­ences have a way of stir­ring the soul. There is always a sur­prise ele­ment to it. Maybe it hap­pens the first time you see a great paint­ing or the fifti­eth time you see the crayon draw­ing of a child. All of sud­den there is a surge of sen­sa­tions fol­lowed by a sense of con­nect­ed­ness that make you feel at one with God and the uni­verse. That moment can­not be cap­tured. It can­not be cre­ated by will or manip­u­la­tion. It is a gift.

Some­times it hits you in a lesser dia­logue of a novel or a rel­a­tively mun­dane part of a movie. For an instant the book or movie is about a neglected piece of soul — YOUR soul. The knot in the throat and the sin­gle tear con­nect to for­got­ten expe­ri­ences and new feelings…or very old long-forgotten real­iza­tions that sud­denly come to life. No com­puter can dupli­cate this. It is as fleet­ing as it is ethe­real. You are left won­der­ing what that moment meant.

Sel­dom does the moment come from pre­dictable rou­tines. It has a way of sneak­ing in as one walks away from the desk or the sink full of dishes — with no par­tic­u­lar next pur­pose in mind. One glimpse through the trees at a sun­ray will do the trick, but not if you are antic­i­pat­ing it. Slow­ing down helps a lit­tle. The space between willpower and pas­siv­ity is a favorite avenue for this to occur. It is espe­cially com­mon when you are in a sit­u­a­tion in which you have to trust fully — like when you are on a plane rather than dri­ving your car.

The soul seeks tones, sym­bols, and aro­mas. Pass­ing fancy is supe­rior to exact­ing pre­ci­sion when it comes to this. The soul wants to play. It wants to expe­ri­ence. Wind, “liv­ing” waters, great birds in flight — things like these catch the “eye” of the soul. Cre­ation is the chem­istry for this heav­enly sen­sa­tion. You will not find it in worry or con­cern for well being. Trust. Turn loose. Be. Let the soul be stirred.